A rampant West Ham United condemned Veljko Paunovic’s Reading FC to a heavy 3-0 defeat at Select Car Leasing Stadium in a pre-season friendly clash.

An unfortunate Jeriel Dorsett own goal was followed up by strikes from Connor Coventry and Ben Johnson as toothless Royals struggled to fight back against the UEFA Europa League side.

Royals were without forwards Lucas Joao, George Puscas and Yakou Meite, who faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines, so academy star Femi Azeez led the Royals’ attack.

Young centre-back Dorsett was also handed a start against top-flight Hammers while trialists Achraf Lazaar and Kyle Edwards were also under the spotlight.

David Moyes’ Hammers started brightly and could have gone a goal ahead inside three minutes but for a smart stop from Royals’ Rafael.

Twenty-year-old Azeez made a nuisance of himself in the early stages and tried to catch out stopper Darren Randolph but botched an audacious 25-yard strike with Royals on the counter.

The visitors dominated possession in the early 20 minutes but struggled to find a way through a resilient Reading defence.

Armstrong Oko-Flex nearly carved Royals’ back four apart with a delicate through ball for Jarrod Bowen but Rafael was quickly off of his line to meet the onrushing winger with 28 minutes gone.

Bowen was in the thick of the action seconds later and forced Rafael into another smart save after slaloming run inside the Reading box.

Conor Coventry then thought his strike had given Moyes’ men the lead but for a superb goal-line clearance from Andy Yiadom.

Trialist Edwards appealed for a penalty after tumbling over a trailing leg inside the box but the referee took no notice of his protests.

West Ham continued to mount pressure and did eventually take a deserved lead when Issa Diop rose highest from a corner to glance the ball into the back of the net, courtesy of a heavy deflection by Dorsett.

Reading’s John Swift was handed a golden chance to score just seconds later but fluffed his finish wide of Randolph’s post.

Royals made one change at the break with striker Nahum Melvin-Lambert replacing Edwards.

The visitors thought they had doubled their lead on 50 minutes but the linesman was quick to raise his flag and chalk off the goal for offside.

Fleet-footed Azeez then tried to dance his way inside the box but was well marshalled by Angelo Ogbonna. West Ham’s dominance continued and they doubled their lead on 56 minutes when an unmarked Coventry tapped in a low cross at the far post.

Manager Paunovic rolled the dice with an hour played and made six substitutions with Dejan Tetek, Nelson Abbey, Ethan Bristow, Michael Stickland, Mamadi Camara and Luke Southwood all entering the fray.

Bowen, who in truth was a constant thorn in Reading’s side, thought he had bagged Hammers’ third when he was sent rushing through on goal with 68 minutes played.

Young stopper Southwood was quick off of his line to deter the ex-Hull City man and the eventual shot was sent well high of the crossbar.

Reading’s lineup was made up entirely of academy players come the 75th minute as the Under 23s looked to stake their claim on a first-team spot.

But they were quickly torn apart by another Hammers attack as Ben Johnson danced his way inside the penalty area before firing low and hard beyond Southwood for their third goal.

The visitors continued to pile men forward but Reading’s young defence held firm for the final 10 minutes as the game ended three goals to nil to the top-tier side.